Tying the Knot
by ladyreapermc
Summary: always a girl!McKay. Set before and after 101 Rising. Basically, McKay and Sheppard got drunk and married on Vegas. Yes, that old cliché.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes:**

I'm a big fan of genderbenders and I truly believe Rodney would make the best woman ever. This is my attempt to write a girl!Mckay fic. Hopefully it didn't suck completely!

English isn't my first language, so forgive me for any mistakes. This chapter was betaed by the excellent fic writer raging_pancake. Thank you so much, my dear!

It's pretty hard to write McKay, but I tried my best. Hopefully, it isn't too out of character. I think I did a little better with Sheppard.

I do love comments people! They make me so happy and I'm pretty okay with constructive criticism, but please, if you don't like genderbenders and you're just want to flame me, don't bother, okay? You will be ignored.

_**Part 1 – The One Where McKay Finds a Husband in the Desert**_

Something was poking her arm, interrupting her blissful unconscious state. Meredith swatted the offending thing that felt a lot like a hand and heard a faint throaty chuckle. She buried her face a little deeper into the pillow. Sleep, good. Waking up, bad.

A hand brushed softly against the side of her face, followed by a deep, drawled voice. "Wakey, wakey sweetheart."

Reluctantly, Meredith pried her eyes open and winced at the sudden assault of light against her retinas. She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling her head pound and she couldn't help but groan pitifully. God, her head felt like someone had tried to land an Asgard ship on it. It hurt so damn much.

"Shit, forgot about the curtains, sorry," the voice mumbled apologetically. After a moment, the morning clarity ceased its attempts of slipping through her closed lids and the ache in her head finally began to ease. "There. Better?"

"Yeah," she croaked, mouth and throat so dry they felt like she had been swallowing sand all night. Either that or the contents of her cat's litter box, because the taste on her tongue was vile and nasty.

Meredith turned on her back in the sea of sheets and pillows and brought her left hand up to rub sleep out of her eyes. The motion felt strange. Something metallic kept catching on her skin.

_Wait! Metallic? Ring finger?_

Her eyes snapped open and Meredith stared in horror at the silver band adorning her hand.

"By the look on your face, I'm guessing you don't remember either?" The voice inquired, reminding Meredith that she wasn't alone.

She turned to look at the man sitting on the edge of the bed beside her. Tanned skin, lithe frame with broad shoulders, lazy smile, warm hazel eyes, funny ears and the worst case of bed hair she had ever seen. He waved a sheet of paper under her nose.

"Morning!" He greeted with forced cheerfulness. "I'm John, your husband, nice to meet you."

"What?" Meredith exclaimed, sitting up quickly and grabbing the paper. Her hopes that it was just one big elaborate joke flew out the window when she saw the very authentic marriage license. Groaning, she let her body fall back on the bed. "How did this happen?"

"My best guess would be alcohol. Lots of it," he replied absently, turning the wedding band on his finger. He seemed oddly comfortable and relaxed with the object.

"Why aren't you freaking out!" Meredith demanded, scowling. "This is a nightmare! A complete disaster!"

"Don't be so dramatic, Mrs. Sheppard." He snorted. "We'll just get an annulment."

Meredith sat up again, face lighting up at the prospect. "That's actually not a bad idea." She paused and once again scowled at him. "What the hell did you just call me?"

"Mrs. Sheppard." He grinned slyly. "Since you're my wife…"

Meredith was about to jump to her feet and so she could properly berate him, when she realized that underneath the sheets, she was naked. Her eyes widen in horror and she clutched the silky fabric against her body.

"Turn around," she ordered and John snorted.

"By the amount of condom wrappers on the floor, it's pretty safe to assume I've seen all of it before," he commented, but did as he was told, allowing Meredith to stand up with the sheet firmly wrapped around her body and head to the bathroom. She needed a shower.

Meredith adjusted the water to the right temperature and climbed under the hot spray, feeling the heat easing some on the tension in her shoulders. How the hell did she end up married with a guy she didn't even know? That wasn't something she would ever do. Not even drunk.

Closing her eyes and tilting her head back, Meredith replayed the events of the previous day in her head, trying to pinpoint exactly where this whole mess started.

She remembered arriving in Nevada for her lecture, courtesy of General O'Neill (that man should really learn that Meredith wasn't one of his grunts he could order around), and having to nearly drown herself in sun block. That damn city from hell was like an oven.

The lecture had been a complete disaster. Meredith was used to dealing with the morons in her lab, but having the speak to a bunch of idiots who couldn't identify a quark even if the thing dressed like a Hawaiian dancer and started to do the Hula or whatever under their nose was her own personal form of torture.

Afterwards, there were cocktails and Meredith had to dodge her host, who was way too friendly for her taste. That was when she slipped out of the conference and headed to the casino for a few rounds of blackjack.

From that point on, her memory started to get a little hazy; she was downing drinks like they were water. At some point, she remembered being joined on the table by… whatever his name is and they were playing and bickering because he could count cards as well as she could and after that, it kinda became a competition. That lasted until a couple of security guards politely asked them to leave.

After that, her memory was only a few flashes of images. Alcohol, loud music, colorful lights, more alcohol… Meredith remembered feeling like she was having the time of her life tagging along with _him_. But that was it. Nothing about the wedding or coming to this hotel room and having sex until they both passed out.

With a frustrated sigh, Meredith turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, feeling a little more human, but not completely yet. She needed coffee.

She quickly toweled herself dry and put on one of the fluffy white bathrobes hanging on the left wall of the bathroom. As she was wiping the condensation off the mirror, Meredith paused to take a better look on the silver band around her finger.

Silver, not gold. She had always hated that monstrous yellow color that clashed with her fair skin. Silver was much more subdued; classic, but modern at the same time. The band was quite simple, with no other adornments. Just a plain looking circle of silver. Meredith hated to admit, but it looked good on her hand and she kind of like the weight of it in her finger.

Shaking those thoughts out of her head, Meredith took a deep breath and stepped out of the bathroom. Her nose was immediately assaulted by the bittersweet aroma of coffee and she sighed happily, making her companion turn to look at her from his spot on the room table.

"Hey," he greeted with a small smile. "I ordered room service."

"Coffee." It wasn't a request.

He poured some in a cup for her, that tiny smirk never leaving his face as Meredith stepped closer to the table.

"I talked to the receptionist and she said the City Hall is not far from here. We can get an annulment after breakfast," he informed her around a mouthful of toast and once more Meredith sighed because that was good news.

"Good. I wanna get this over with as quickly as possible."

"I've noticed," he said with a small snort of amusement, eyes returning to newspaper in front of him, while Meredith dug into the food. She just realized she was starving.

Half-way through her meal, the distinct sound of a cell phone filled the air. "That's the third time it rings. I thought about answering, but I figure you wouldn't have appreciated that," he said, without lowering the newspaper.

"Well, you're less of a moron than I first thought, Joe," she snapped, surveying the room in search for her mobile.

"Nightstand," he provided helpfully. "And also, it's John."

"Whatever." She waved him off as she grabbed the phone and answered. "McKay."

"_Meredith! I've been calling for the better part of the morning. Where are you?"_

"Still in Vegas. I guess I overslept," Meredith replied with a sigh. She wasn't in the mood to deal with Elizabeth. Her head still ached a little.

"_Still? We have a meeting with General O'Neill in three hours. You need to get here!_" Meredith felt her eyes go wide at the urgent tone in Elizabeth's voice. She stalked towards John and grabbed his wrist, checking the time on his watch. It was past 11. Crap, crap, crap!

"I'll be there as soon as possible. Just stall," she commanded and snapped her phone shut, without waiting for a reply. She started a frantic search for her clothes.

"What's wrong?" John asked, a frown of concern on his face. Once again Meredith waved him off, focusing instead on getting her underwear and pants on without taking the bathrobe off.

"I need to go. You deal with this whole marriage mess." She grabbed her blue cashmere blouse, scowling at the huge tear on the front. "What the hell?" She waved the garment in front of him. "Neanderthal much?"

"Sorry," John said sheepishly, but his eyes shone with some sort of smug pride. "I guess I got a little carried away last night." He stood up and undid the white button down he had on. "Try this."

Meredith took the offered cloth and headed back to the bathroom to get it on. It was a little big, especially lengthwise, but it would do for the moment. She finger combed her long, wavy hair into something that resembled order and tied in a ponytail, before stepping back out.

There was a notepad next to the room phone. Meredith quickly scrabbled her number on the top paper, tore it off the pad and trusted it on John/Joe/Whatever his name was' chest.

"Call me when you fix this mess," she ordered and grabbed her shoes and coat from the carpet near the door and headed out, not waiting for a reply from her husband. She needed to get to Colorado and to that briefing. There was an Ancients' outpost in Antarctica that she wanted to explore.

By the time Meredith reached Colorado and the Cheyenne Mountains, all thoughts of rings and marriage were gone from her mind and all there was left was all the technology she would get her hands on if she and Elizabeth manage to convince O'Neill to let them investigate the Ancients' Outpost.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Notes:**Like I mentioned before, English isn't my first language. I apologize for any mistakes. This part wasn't betaed.

Hope you guys like it!

* * *

><p><em><strong>Part 2 – The One Where Sheppard Finds his Wife in Antarctica<strong>_

John didn't hear from Meredith again until he was assigned to fly General O'Neill to a base – one he didn't even know existed – in the middle of nowhere. The flight was mostly uneventful until some sort of missile thing tried to shoot them down; it was pretty weird for John, but General O'Neill didn't even bat an eyelash.

John only understood why when they arrived at the outpost. Everything there was different. Amazing. He wasn't sure what to look at first. Not even sure if he should be looking at all. Everything was so classified that John was pretty sure none of the marines lingering around, protecting the base would hesitate or think twice if someone ordered them to kill him.

But then again, General O'Neill only said he couldn't touch anything. So he started perusing all the exposed equipments, sometimes receiving a few glares from scientists, but mostly being ignored by everyone.

That was how he ended up meeting Dr. Carson Beckett, M.D., the man responsible for shooting the missile thing at his chopper. The doctor apologized profusely and explained some of the basics about the base and the technology John was seeing.

John was pretty sure that sitting on the Ancients' chair was one of the stupidest things he had ever done, but the moment Meredith stepped into the room following General O'Neil, Dr. Jackson and another woman he didn't know, he couldn't care less. His mouth fell open in surprise, his focus solely on her until General O'Neill spoke.

"I said don't touch anything," the General admonished.

"I just sat down," John replied dumbly, his eyes shifting towards Meredith when she stepped closer to him. He noticed her hair was shorter, chocolate-colored waves barely brushing her shoulders.

"Major…" She started, mouth set in a determined line, blue eyes flashing with restrained excitement and apprehension. "Think about where we are in the Solar System."

John did exactly what she commanded. A second later, blue holographic schematics of the Solar System flickered to life above him. It was amazing. "Did I do that?"

"Yes." Meredith spoke through gritted teeth and John looked over her with a frown of confusion. There was obvious displeasure on her face as she stalked away. He wanted to follow, but the other woman – Dr. Weir, presumably – stepped in his line of sight.

"If you could come with me, Major." John glanced at Meredith's retreating back, then at the General, who just nodded in encouragement, before following the scientist out.

With a sigh of resignation, John tagged along behind Dr. Weir to a makeshift office in the depths of outpost. She gestured for him to take a seat, which he politely refused. He didn't know why he was there and he felt uneasy. Lately, whenever a superior asked him to their offices, John had received a dressing down.

"Did General O'Neil explain to you what this place is? What we're doing here?" Dr. Weir asked, leaning against her table, arms crossed over her chest, a small smile tugging on the corner of her lips. She seemed like a nice lady and John felt himself relaxing against his own will.

"Not really. What he said was more in the lines of: really secret stuff, keep your mouth shut and don't do anything stupid like activating alien chairs. Sorry about that."

Her smile widened just a little. "It's alright, Major. No harm done."

John smiled in relief. "Dr. Beckett explained some things to me though. About the Ancients and the gene thing that I apparently have."

"Good, good," Dr. Weir flashed another smile. "That will save me some time. What you see here Major is an advanced outpost. A place designed to protect the Ancients' domicile."

John frowned at that. "No offense, Dr. Weir, but there no place around here homey enough to be called a domicile."

"That's because the city is no longer here. The Ancients left Earth about ten thousand years ago."

"And they took the city." It wasn't a question, though Elizabeth nodded in confirmation.

"Yes. The city itself is some sort of a ship according to Dr. Jackson's findings. We believe the city is now located somewhere in Pegasus Galaxy and Dr. McKay is positive she can power up the stargate in such a way that we can dial to Pegasus." As Dr. Weir spoke, her eyes shone with barely concealed excitement.

"Okay..." John drawled and took a moment to run all the information through his head. "Why are you telling me all this?"

"We're hoping to meet some of the Ancients by going to Atlantis, but if we don't, it will be useful to have people with the gene in the city, especially since there's a good chance this is one-way trip."

"Wait… You're asking me to come along with you to Atlantis?" To say that John was shocked by the request was an understatement.

"Yes, Major. Several of my people have the Ancients' gene, but none of them can activate the technology as naturally as you did with the chair. We need you in Atlantis."

John spent a few moments just staring at Dr. Weir in complete astonishment. He wasn't sure what to say to that. An invitation to go to another galaxy- that sounded equally exciting and terrifying.

He cleared his throat, and stood a little straighter. "Thank you for the offer ma'am. I'll have to think about it."

"Yes, of course," she seemed disconcerted by his reply, as if she was expecting an immediate yes. "Just remember, we're on a tight schedule."

"Sure," John nodded his understanding and glanced at the door. She wasn't military, but she still had an air of authority around her that compelled John to request permission. "Can I go?"

"Yes, yes. You're dismissed."

John nodded his farewell before heading out. He'd had enough of this underground base; he needed to go back to his chopper where things were familiar and Earthly.

John stepped into the elevator, pausing for a second to briefly look at Dr. Beckett and Meredith. Maybe his luck was changing. He really needed to talk to her. Offering the medic a smile, he moved to stand between Beckett and Meredith. The scientist didn't acknowledge him in anyway, but John noticed how she pressed her lips together tightly and her shoulders tensed; she was aware of his presence.

"Long time, no see." John said in an almost cheerful tone. Meredith's only reply was a small grunt.

"You two know each other?" Beckett asked, eying the major suspiciously as the elevator started to move. John grinned innocently.

"We've met," he replied vaguely, before returning his focus to Meredith, who still hadn't looked up from her computer tablet. "I tried to call, you know?"

Meredith finally looked up, sending him a glare. "Yes, well, I don't know if you noticed, but we're in Antarctica; cell phone reception isn't something you get at every corner."

"I know that now!" John replied defensively. "But before, I just thought you were avoiding me, or something."

She snorted, her eyes going back to the tablet in her hands. "You think too highly of yourself. I didn't even remember you existed 'til today's stunt."

John should probably feel offended by that, because he'd always liked to think he wasn't that easily forgotten, especially to women who he slept with. But considering the fact he just reencountered Meredith in a secret, underground alien base, he wasn't surprised he completely slipped from the woman's mind.

"So… How've you been?" He tried again, back to the cheerful tone. Meredith was less than impressed with his antics, if the eye roll was anything to go by.

"I'd be much better if you stopped trying to make small talk and ceased speaking altogether." She replied rudely, sending John another icy glare. He sighed tiredly and turned away from her, letting the silence fall. Trying to be nice to Meredith McKay was like pulling a tooth: laborious and painful.

The rest of the ride was made in silence. It wasn't until they reached the surface and Meredith all but bolt out of the elevator, that John tried to talk again.

"We need to talk about what happened." He called out after her as she started to briskly walk towards the encampment.

"No, we don't," she replied without turning around. "What we should do is forget about it and pretend it never happened."

John noticed her pace quickening and hurried to catch up. He was only half-aware that Beckett wasn't too far behind them. "Thing is…" he started, taking hold of Meredith's arm and causing her to stop moving. "It did happen. It's still happening."

Meredith's eyes went wide as his words registered, before her expression became thunderous. She looked damn scaring and John was half-tempted to make a harsh retreat.

"What exactly that's supposed to mean?" She asked in a clipped tone. "I thought I told you to take care of it!"

"I tried!" John exclaimed, back to the defensive tone. "But you can't get an annulment unless both parts are present, something I would have told you if you hadn't run away as soon as you could!" He was getting tired of being pictured as the bad guy in this whole story. This was **their** mess. He wasn't the only one to blame.

He watched as Meredith took a deep, slow breath, squeezing the bridge of her nose as if to stop a headache from forming. Her small frame was shaking with fury and John was suddenly assaulted by the mental image of a volcano about to erupt.

"Are you telling me that we're still MARRIED?" She shrieked, her tone getting higher at every word that passed through her lips, making John cringe.

"You two are bloody married?" Beckett cut in before John could answer, eyes wide in shock. John had forgotten the doctor was standing there as well, watching the entire scene. "How the hell did that happen? And why didn't you tell me?"

"This isn't exactly one of my finer points, Carson!" Meredith exclaimed, glaring at the doctor. "Besides, how is this any of your damn business? What are we now? Teenage girls? I don't have to tell you every little thing that happens in my life!"

"This is far from little, Meredith!" Beckett shot back, matching her tone. "Have you told Dr. Weir?"

"Of course not!" The scientist stared at him like he was mentally deranged. "And you're not telling her either!" She added before the Scot could say another word. "And you!" Meredith turned back at John, jabbing a finger on his chest, eyes blazing. "You're going to fix this!"

"How exactly am I supposed to do that?" John asked indignant. He had felt much better when Meredith's fury wasn't directed at him.

"I don't know and I don't care, just fix it!" She bellowed in his face before spinning on her heels and stalking out. John took a step forward to follow her, but Beckett caught his arm, stilling his movements.

"Give her some time to cool down, lad. If you push the subject, Meredith will only lash out and believe me when I say, she can be quite vicious if she wants to."

John stared after Meredith for a few moments, deliberating if he should listen to the doctor or follow her anyway. What Beckett had said made perfect sense and he did know Meredith better than John.

"Yeah, okay," he agreed in a sigh. He turned away from Meredith, shoulders sagging under the weight of this entire situation. This wasn't going as he planned. "I have no idea how to fix this," John confessed to Beckett. "I guess I could file for a divorce…"

"Don't do anything just yet, major" Beckett interrupted, before John could complete his thought. "I'm not sure if even Meredith knows what she wants."

John snorted a humorless laugh. "I think she made pretty clear what she wanted, doc."

Beckett chuckled amused. "You don't know her, like I do, major. A few months back, I noticed she had started to use a silver band around her left ring finger. I wondered about where she had gotten, but didn't bring it up. Knowing Meredith, she wouldn't have given me a straight answer anyway. She's difficult like that, especially when it comes to relationships. But now, things are starting to make sense."

John frowned at the doctor's words. "She's still wearing her wedding band? I thought that was the first thing she would get rid of." He was still wearing his too, but that was more out of habit than anything else (or at least, that was what he kept telling himself whenever he caught a glimpse of silver around his neck that wasn't his dog tags.).

"You'll realize, major, that when it comes Meredith, what meets the eye is rarely the reality." Beckett's lips formed an enigmatic little smirk that only served to confuse John more.

"What are you saying, doc? That she **wants** to stay married?"

"I can't say one way or the other, but I can tell you this: The Meredith I know would never get married with a guy she barely knows if he didn't mean something to her. Even if she doesn't know or remember exactly what."

"Well, in her defense, she was pretty drunk when we got hitched, doc." John offered sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. Beckett's enigmatic smirk only grew at his words.

"Another thing I know about Meredith is that she would never get drunk with someone she didn't trust. She doesn't let her guard down easily, major. Whatever happened between the two of you prior to the marriage thing was enough to make her trust you and that's a big thing."

Beckett's words did nothing to dissipate John's confusion. In fact, it only made it increase. He wanted to ask about what he meant and about Meredith, because the doctor was clearly aware of something that John wasn't, but before he could say anything, the Scot was already saying his goodbyes.

"It was good to meet you, Major. I hope to see you around again." He said pointedly, giving John a look, before following the same path Meredith had taken, leaving John to wonder if the doctor knew about Dr. Weir's request.

John headed back to his chopper mind bubbling with all kinds of questions about Meredith and their situation. By what Beckett had implied, it was easy to conclude something had happened in Meredith's past that made her completely distrustful of people, especially men, but still, she had married John and, according to the doctor, that meant something.

With a heavy, tired sigh, John slouched on the pilot's seat, letting his eyes fall shut. He wished he knew what to do now. Before he talked to both Beckett and Meredith, he had a pretty well established course of action: ignore the whole thing and if Meredith wanted a divorce, he would give it to her, not questions asked. But now, now he was a little bit fascinated with McKay. He wanted get to know her, understand why she was so keen on keeping people at arm's length.

Even before General O'Neill started speaking, pushing the issue about Atlantis, John had already made his decision. For some reason – that he really wasn't going to analyze because he was just too much of a coward – he felt very strongly about Meredith McKay. It was some sort of magnetic pull that attracted John to her in a way no other woman had ever managed, not even Nancy. He wanted to understand why.

So, as they were reaching McMurdo, John turned to General O'Neil and said: "I'll do it." The older man smiled, not even a bit surprised.

"Good."


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Notes:**Like I mentioned before, English isn't my first language. I apologize for any mistakes. This part wasn't betaed.

Hope you guys like it!

_**Part 3 – The One Where McKay Thinks She Wants a Divorce and Sheppard Knows He Doesn't**_

Meredith wasn't expecting to ever see Major Sheppard again. As far as she was concerned, he was just a grunt who was at the wrong place, at the wrong time, activated the wrong piece of technology and happened to be her husband. He wasn't supposed to be invited to the expedition and he definitely wasn't supposed to have accepted said invitation.

So when she walked into the SGC infirmary to see Carson, Meredith was utterly shocked to see a shirtless John running in a treadmill, hooked on all sorts of cables. She paused by the door, chin nearly on the ground, before she recovered enough and glared.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She asked, conveying in her voice all the irritation she could muster. He smiled brightly at her.

"I'm getting my physical evaluation," he replied easily with a shrug, just slightly out of breath. "What happened to your hand?" He nodded towards her reddish and obviously injured right hand.

Meredith looked down with a frown, suddenly remembering why she had come out of the lab. "Some moron decided to disobey my direct order and messed with the ZedPM slot. It short-circuited."

Carson moved towards Meredith, perusing her injured hand with a quick clinical eye. "It doesn't look too bad. Just a little red. I'll give you some ointment to put it on and you'll be fine in a couple of days." He moved away to retrieve the mentioned medicine.

"Some painkillers too, right? Because this hurts like hell." Meredith called out after the doctor. John snorted from his spot on the treadmill, dragging her attention back to him. "Since when do you have clearance to be at Stargate Command?"

"Since I've been recruited to the Atlantis expedition." John replied with sunny smile and Meredith stared at him in dumbfounded.

"Since you've been… what?"

"Yeah," John grinned again. "Dr. Weir asked me and I said yes."

Meredith's shock was replaced by sheer fury and she stalked out of the infirmary without waiting for the salve. She headed straight to the boardroom where she knew Elizabeth would be working. She stepped inside without knocking and sent the woman her most withering glare.

"How come I wasn't informed that Major Sheppard would be joining the expedition?" She demanded as soon as she was inside. Elizabeth looked up with a frown of confusion.

"He's military personal, doctor. I don't see why it would be any of your concern."

"He's…" She started in a clipped tone, not sure what exactly she wanted to say. "He can't go!" Meredith settled for instead, crossing her arms over her chest. Elizabeth's frown deepened.

"You've seen how easily he controlled the Ancients' technology, Meredith. We need him."

"No, we don't!" She shot back in a very childish manner, but she was beyond caring right now. Elizabeth let out a tired sigh and squeezed the bridge of her nose.

"Do you have a problem with the major, Dr. McKay?"

"Yes!" Meredith replied emphatically.

"Would you like to tell me what is it exactly?"

She bit her lip and looked away. Meredith couldn't tell Elizabeth she didn't want Sheppard around because he was a constant reminder of the biggest mistake of her life. So instead, she just let out an exasperated sigh and backed away from the room.

"Just keep him the hell away from me," she called out over her shoulder.

Elizabeth's face was set in a displeased expression as she replied. "I'm sure that won't be a problem."

After her conversation with Elizabeth, Meredith spent the rest of the week holed up in her lab, working 24/7 on making the required adjustments on their equipment so they could fit the ZedPM and power up the gate. Work was the only thing that could keep Major Sheppard out of her mind and her lab was the only safe place where she knew he couldn't get to her. But apparently, it wasn't safe enough.

It was Friday – Or maybe it was Sunday? Meredith really lost track of time – when the Major turned up in the lab, well after midnight carrying a couple of sandwiches and a stack of papers. She was so focused on her work that she didn't notice his presence until he nudged her leg with one of his booted feet. Meredith pulled herself from underneath the machine she was working on and glared.

"How the hell did you get in here?" She demanded in an irritated tone. Just Sheppard's mere presence made Meredith's blood boil.

"The Czech guy let me in," he shrugged careless and hopped on one of the tables. "You didn't show up at the mess hall for dinner, so figure I'd bring you something to eat."

Sheppard's smile was big, bright and disarming; Meredith didn't trust it one tiny bit, but she got up anyway and moved towards her provisory workstation where she kept a tube of hand sanitizer. She quickly cleaned her hands and headed back to where Sheppard was holding up the plate.

They ate in a peaceful, but slightly tense silence. From time to time, Meredith sneaked sideways glances at the Major, but Sheppard didn't say a word, just chewed on his sandwich thoughtfully.

It wasn't until they were both done with their food that he finally met Meredith's eyes, a serious expression clouding his handsome face.

"Dr. Weir talked to me a couple days ago," he said in an emotionless voice and she flinched. "She wanted to know why her Head of Science and Research felt so strongly against me."

"What did you say?" Meredith asked carefully, wondering if Elizabeth now knew Meredith had gotten drunk and married in Vegas.

"I said I had no idea why you didn't like me, but I was under the impression you disliked all military personal," Sheppard replied, his mouth set in a grim, displeased line. "I don't like lying to my superiors, McKay, but I also know this is none of their business. We need to work it out ourselves."

Once again, Meredith flinched. She hadn't meant to put Sheppard in such situation, but at the same time, she was glad he felt this particular issue should be kept between the two of them.

Sheppard pushed the stack of papers towards her. "I talked to an old buddy of mine. He's a lawyer. He drew these up for me."

Meredith looked over the documents and her heart started to hammer widely on her chest. They were divorce papers. The solution to all of their problems.

"All you have to do is sign them and you're no longer Mrs. Sheppard," John pushed away from the table, turning towards Meredith with an unreadable expression. "It's your decision, Meredith. We'll do whatever you want."

Meredith watched stunned as Sheppard headed to the door, leaving her alone. What did he mean by whatever she wanted? Was he implying he would sign the divorce papers against his will? She ran a hand through her dark hair with a tired sigh and winced a little when her fingers got caught on tangled knots. Maybe Meredith had spent too much time in the lab.

Gathering her things – including the divorce papers – Meredith headed home, planning a hot shower, junk food and some sleep. She could sign those damn papers later.

Except she didn't.

Two weeks went by and Meredith kept postponing the task, using excuses like she was too busy to think about it or too tired to do it at the moment. But she knew she was lying to herself; she just couldn't do it and that pissed her off more than anything. This was what she wanted: to put this bizarre and stupid mistake behind and never think of it again. So why every time she took a pen and the divorce papers out, all Meredith ever managed was to stare at them until her eyes ached? It made no sense whatsoever.

Maybe all Meredith needed was a new perspective. Someone unbiased who could look at the situation from a different point of view and give her some advice. She needed Carson. The doctor was a people's person right? He would be able to tell Meredith what the Major had meant and why she seemed unable to sign the papers.

Meredith jumped to her feet, grabbed the papers and went straight to the infirmary. Carson, like herself, was pulling frequent all-nighters now that they were getting closer to the date of departure. As chiefs of their respective departments, both had a lot of administrative stuff to take care off.

Of course filling up paperwork and inventory lists were boring as hell, so Meredith wasn't particularly surprised to find the doctor asleep on his provisory office. Feeling a bit cruel, she slammed the stack of papers right next to where the Scot's head was resting on the table, making Carson jump startled.

"What? What's going on?" His accent was so thick due sleep that she barely made out the words. It was damn amusing. It took a moment, but Carson finally managed to focus on her through his sleep-haze and glared. "That's not funny, Meredith. You're nearly gave me a heart attack."

She rolled her eyes and took a seat in front of him. "Don't be such a girl, Carson. Now, I need your help with something."

Carson sighed tiredly, still kind of glaring at Meredith. "Aye. What do you need?" Meredith pushed the papers towards him and the doctor glanced it over. "What is this?"

"What does it look like? Divorce papers!" She replied with an exasperated eye roll. Was Carson being thick on purpose just to spite her?

"I can bloody well see that!" The doctor snipped annoyed. "Why are you showing me these?"

"Major Sheppard had a lawyer draw them up." Meredith supplied, but Carson didn't see why the scientist felt impelled to show them to him.

"So? What do you want me to do with them?"

She squirmed uncomfortably on her chair, looking away. "I didn't sign them."

That quite confession made Carson stare at her in surprise. For weeks all he heard about was how Meredith wanted to get this bloody marriage thing over with and never think of it again and now that she had the chance, she wouldn't do it?

"Why not?" He asked carefully, not wanting to upset her.

"Something Major Sheppard said when he gave me the papers," Carson waited patiently as Meredith gathered her wits to finish whatever she wanted to say. "He kinda suggested that he was against the idea of getting a divorce."

"Aye," he nodded in understanding. "I'm not surprised."

Meredith gaped at him, eyes wide with shock. "You're not surprised? What the hell does that mean?"

"Well for one, he still wears his wedding band," Carson pointed out and she took a moment to think, trying to visualize the Major's hand.

"No he doesn't," she shot back with a frown.

"Sure he does, luv," Carson smiled indulgently at Meredith. "Around his neck; along with his dog tags. I saw it. He said he has the habit of lose things, so he keeps the band on the chain, so he won't misplace it. I don't know why you're so surprised. I didn't take yours off either."

"That's different," Meredith rolled her eyes. "Despite what some people might say, I am a woman and we like shiny, pretty things like say jewelry."

Carson's lips twitched in amusement at the blatant lie in Meredith's statement. During all the time he knew the scientist, she had never once expressed any kind of interest for jewelry, not until the wedding band.

"Fine then. Sign the papers, but keep the ring," Carson taunted, pulling a pen from his white coat's breast pocket and handing it to Meredith.

The scientist huffed in indignation and pulled the divorce papers towards herself, ballpoint hovering about the dotted line where her name was supposed to go, but she didn't write anything.

"Perhaps you like the idea of being married more than you care to admit, Meredith," Carson pointed out with a small grin. "Talk to the Major; work something out. It's obvious you like him."

"No, I don't!" Meredith protested. "I don't even know him."

"Whatever you say, Meredith," Carson rolled his eyes, tired of arguing. "Just hurry up and figure something out. We're heading to Atlantis in a few days and I doubt you'll find a bloody lawyer dotting around, waiting to help you."

Meredith glared at Carson, hating how reasonable and right the doctor had sounded and stalked out of the office. This conversation hadn't helped her one tiny bit.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Author's Note: **_Last part of this fic. Sorry I took so long to post. Real life has been busy busy busy!

Again I'd like to say that English isn't my first language and I had no beta, so all mistakes are mine.

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><p><em><strong>Part 4 – The One Where They Reach a Compromise and Leave for Atlantis<strong>_

John was rechecking his backpack, making sure everything was where it was supposed to be, when the knock broke the silence filling his quarters just a few hours before they were due to step through the gate. He stared at the metallic door for a couple of seconds confused, before bidding the outsider entrance. Not for a second he expected to see Meredith hesitantly walk in, already dressed in her Atlantis uniform, carrying a very familiar stack of papers. John sighed heavily, turning his focus back to his backpack. He didn't want to do this; especially not now.

"You certainly took your time bringing those, but I suppose I can have one of the cadets to file them in the City Hall tomorrow," he said, keeping his tone as neutral as he could.

"I didn't sign them," Meredith replied, making John spin around quickly, feeling baffled.

"You didn't sign them?" He repeated slowly; confused and a bit hopeful. Meredith shook her head and avoided eye contact by fidgeting with the hem of her jacket. She looked so small at the moment, so unlike the self-assured and confident scientist he learned to see her as. "I thought it was what you wanted."

"Is it what you want?" She asked, looking up. Her jaw was set in a determinate line, but doubt and uncertainty still shone in her bright blue eyes.

"Not really, no," John shrugged, being as honest as he could.

"Why not?" Meredith looked at him in complete confusion. John sighed and leaned against the wall of his quarters, crossing his ankles and arms.

"Call me crazy, but I kinda like you," Her eyes widen slightly as she gaped.

"You **are** crazy. You don't even know me," Meredith argued. "I'm arrogant, rude, petty, condescending and generally bad with people. Or at least, that what people tell me. I'm not, in any way, wife material."

"You're also brilliant, beautiful and funny; independent, determinate and strong. You take bullshit from no one and you protect your own," John counted back, pushing himself away from the wall and coming to stand before Meredith, towering over the slightly shorter woman. "I've watched you these few weeks, McKay and I kinda liked what I saw."

"I-I…" Meredith stammered not really knowing what to say and John smiled a little. She really was bad with people, but that wasn't always a bad thing.

"Look… I know we didn't go about this the right way, but I wanna give this a try. See how it goes; see if we can make it work."

"How can this possibly work, Major? I don't even know the first thing about you," she tried to reason.

"My name is John Patrick Sheppard; I like college football, Ferris Wheels and anything that goes more than 200 miles per hour. I went to Stanford, joined the military mostly to spite my dad, but also because I've always wanted to be a pilot. I love being in the air, it's where I feel more at peace. I have a younger brother, named David; my mother passed away when I was 17. I love golf and surfing and I was married once. My favorite food is a good old steak and my favorite movie is Die Hard," he grinned. "There? Now you know lots of things about me. Your turn."

Meredith shifted uncomfortably, before sighing in resignation. "My middle name is Rodney. Don't laugh," she glared. "I wanted to be a concert pianist when I was little, but my teacher said I was a lost cause since I had no sense of art so I turned to science. My parents fought like cats and dogs and most of the time, I didn't understand why they didn't just get a divorce. I have a younger sister, Jeannie. Haven't spoke with her in a while. I got my first PhD at age 20. I'm mortally allergic to anything citric and Star Trek is the best science-fiction show ever created."

"And now I know lots about you." John smiled again and cupped her face in one of his hands, rubbing a circle against her cheek. "This is what marriage is all about, Meredith. Getting to know the other person, learning to love all their little flaws… It's going to be hard, but you're a smart lady who tends to exceed on things you put your mind into and I'm, well, I'm a stubborn bastard. So what do you say? We can start slow, just friends and then go from there."

"Do you realize how backwards this whole thing is?" Meredith pointed out in a deep sigh and John could see she was close to giving up.

"Yeah," he agreed with a shrug.

"It's just not normal."

"In a couple of hours we'll be heading to another Galaxy. Screw normal," he could see the way her lips quirked up a bit at that and grinned. "So? Are you willing to give this a go?"

Meredith sighed dramatically and nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever." John smiled wide and dragged Meredith close for a kiss.

It was far from perfect, with teeth clashing and noses bumping, but it was good. It was warm and sweet and after a few moments of clumsy fumbling, they managed to fix the angle and everything else fell away as the world was narrowed to the two of them for a few precious minutes.

Then Meredith's radio cracked with static and the voice of one her scientists came through, announcing they were ready to connect to ZPM. She left reluctantly, after stealing a few more hurried kisses.

John didn't see her again until the gate was open, the event horizon coloring the room blue with its rippling light. He was so fascinated by the thing that he didn't notice Meredith was standing next to him, until she bumped her shoulder against his.

"Pretty cool, isn't it?" She asked, excitement dancing in her blue eyes. John nodded dumbfounded and a little nervous.

General O'Neill gave them the order to move out and John swallowed hard. This was it. No turning back now. He glanced at Meredith and she smiled encouragingly at him, brushing her hand against his, briefly entwining their fingers together.

"See you on the other side." She murmured and John felt a little more at ease, even managing a little smile.

"Yeah… see ya." He replied and stepped up on the ramp, along with Lt. Ford.

Time to go.

_The End_

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><p><em><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> _Nops, not mine, no matter how much I wished it was! I'm just playing with them for a bit.


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